(Bloomberg) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel believes the European Union should ratify its trade deal with the Mercosur countries and Emmanuel Macron’s threat to block the accord won’t help protect the Amazon jungle, a government spokesman said. The French leader on Friday said he won’t approve the deal, agreed just eight weeks ago, because of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s persistent violations of his commitments on tackling climate change. As Group of Seven leaders begin to arrive in Biarritz, France, for a summit that starts Saturday, Macron and Bolsonaro clashed publicly over Brazil’s handling of a record surge in forest fires in the Amazon. Macron’s announcement appeared to catch his EU allies by surprise. To contact the reporter on this story: Arne Delfs in Biarritz at adelfs@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Ben Sills at bsills@bloomberg.netFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

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